Olympus restyles Stylus-7010 compact ultrazoom

Olympus announced its first wave of compact ultrazooms, including the 10x zoom Stylus-9000 and 7x zoom Stylus-7000, back in January. This morning, the manufacturer is updating the 7x model in this set with the launch of the new Olympus Stylus-7010.

Using a 12 megapixel sensor and a 2.7 inch HyperCrystal II LCD, the Stylus-7010 features a specs sheet that closely resembles that of the previous model, but adds a new wide-angle lens as well as Olympus’s Magic Filters technology to the mix as well.

Unlike the Stylus-7000, which featured a normal-to-telephoto 7x zoom, the pocket-size Stylus-7010 packs a much wider 28-196mm lens that trades telephoto coverage for the ability to reel in a broad field of view.

In another derivation from the manufacturer’s DSLR line, the Stylus-7010 features a set of Magic Filters, which provide time-of-capturing processing effects – a nearly identical system to the Art Filters shooting mode found on Olympus’s E-series DSLRs. Magic Filters options for the Stylus-7010 include a colorful and vibrant Pop Art setting, a Pin Hole camera emulator, and a Fisheye mode that mimics the curving lines of captures shot through a fisheye lens.

Interface-side options include Olympus’s “Olympus Recommended” button, which provides a list of scene-specific settings recommendations, a Beauty Mode for smoothing skin tones in portraits, and Olympus’s standard Perfect Shot Preview technology that shows the impact of settings choices on-screen before a shot is captured.

The visually restyled Stylus-7010 utilizes a proprietary lithium-ion battery for power, and saves images to either an xD-Picture Card or a microSD card (via a supplied adapter).

Pricing and availabilityThe Olympus Stylus-7010 should start showing up on store shelves before the end of next month. Suggested pricing is an attractive $199.99.